HUDSON -- More than 60 ambulances and fire trucks led the funeral procession for a popular local funeral director who was murdered after a lifetime of being very active in his church and community.

Almost 2,000 people attended funeral services Feb. 9 for Dan O'Connell, 39, a parishioner at St. Patrick's Parish and volunteer emergency medical technician.

O'Connell and James Ellison, a 22-year-old intern studying mortuary science, were found slain inside the O'Connell Family Funeral Home in the early afternoon of Feb. 5. Police continue to investigate and have received plenty of tips, but leads have been slim.

Officials stopped counting after 4,000 people entered for the wake, which ran 10 hours, four more than scheduled. It took about four hours to make it through the receiving line. The funeral was coordinated as a special tribute by O'Connell's father, Tom, and brother, Mike, with whom he ran the family business.

The wake and funeral drew all sectors of the Hudson community together. Virtually everyone interviewed by the hordes of Twin Cities reporters who descended on this city have raved about how special a person O'Connell was.

"He would do anything for anyone," said George Boldizsar, a longtime St. Patrick's parishioner and friend of the family, who was helping serve hundreds of people at a funeral lunch.

Special rows of pews were established for dozens of EMTs from scores of emergency agencies in western Wisconsin and Minnesota and the 18 pastors who attended the funeral at St. Patrick's. More emergency workers lined the back of the church, where scores of folding chairs were set up to accommodate the overflow crowd.

"We will feel the loss for a long time," Fr. Peter Szleszinski, pastor, said from the pulpit. "I haven't figured out the purpose of (his death). I wish I could. Such answers belong for the end of time."

Eulogists said O'Connell was someone to whom you could always go for comforting -- a loyal, trustworthy man who accomplished much service in his 39 years.

"Whenever you saw Dan you noticed the sparkle in his eye -- it let you know that you were an important part of his ever-giving life," said Hudson Mayor Jack Breault.

If O'Connell could have been there at his own funeral, he would have been the one to whom everyone would have looked for solace, said Peggy (Rose) Karras, who gave one of four eulogies.

O'Connell's community involvement included the local Knights of Columbus, Lions Club, Hudson Booster youth sports club, Rotary International, Hudson Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts of America, American Red Cross and the YMCA. He also volunteered with the North Hudson Pepper Festival and once served as its king.

Memorials may be sent to a group of Hudson banks where a scholarship fund has been set up the names of Kyle and Kaitlyn O'Connell, children of Dan O'Connell and his wife Jennie.

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002